During the past 18 months that I have been writing cannabis columns for this magazine, I have been fascinated by the diversity of social justice activities in the cannabis culture of the Ocean State. I now have five articles on Social justice and cannabis in RI in the Motif Archives. This article will be the sixth in this series.
I recently corresponded with Emma Karnes, who works for United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), a labor union that represents workers in a variety of industries, particularly in the food and retail sectors. Khiry Chivers, cooperative founder of PVD Flowers, and Andre Dev, cooperative founder also contributed to this conversation. Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Lenny Brennan (LB) Motif: What was the inspiration behind founding Co-op Rhody?
Emma Karnes (EK): Co-op Rhody was born out of a multi-year campaign to build an equitable and cooperative cannabis industry in Rhode Island. Beginning in 2021, activists from RI-based organizations including ReclaimRI, DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), Break the Cycle Cooperative Hub, and UFCW Local 328 played leading roles in fighting for just and equitable legalization legislation. Many of the activists on the frontlines of this struggle came from disinvested communities, and personally experienced the injustices of racist drug enforcement policies.
The RI Cannabis Act, which passed in May 2022, is one of the most progressive cannabis legalization bills in the country. It reserves six out of 24 new retail licenses for worker-owned co-ops, which has never happened anywhere else in the country.
The reservation of retail licenses for worker cooperatives creates an unprecedented opportunity: for a significant portion (6 out of 33 licenses) of a $110+ million industry to be financially-controlled and democratically-governed by historically marginalized workers.
Today, a community of worker-owners, largely from working-class Black and brown communities, are organizing cooperative businesses with the support of a network of business advisors, union organizers, and local activists. Co-op Rhody is a hub for recruitment, training and technical assistance, coordination of resources, and community-building. It’s one tool in a greater grassroots movement to build a worker-owned and community-based RI cannabis industry. We’re also working very closely with UFCW Local 328, who supports worker ownership as a powerful strategy to build worker power in this growing industry. Our vision is to build a cannabis industry in our state where working-class, BIPOC, and formerly incarcerated Rhode Islanders own a meaningful piece of the pie.
LB: What is your mission and operating philosophy?
EK: Co-op Rhody is a grassroots worker cooperative incubator using community led organizing to build businesses that keep money and power in the people’s hands. We’re focused on supporting cooperative cannabis dispensaries in RI that create racial and economic justice by offering democratic governance, profit-sharing, and financial ownership to worker-owners, including and especially those who have been directly impacted by the War on Drugs.
Peer support and worker leadership are central to our organization. Co-op Rhody is a network of relationships between worker-owners sharing their knowledge & skills. Not many of us have started cooperatives before, but everyone brings something to the table. Strategic planning – including goal-setting and program design – are facilitated as collective conversations centering the voices of co-op founders.
LB: How are you funded?
EK: So far, we’ve been mostly funded with individual donations from community supporters, including over $5,000 raised at our November 2024 fundraiser and almost $7,000 raised during 401Gives. We’ve also been the recipient of two small grants from the MLG Foundation.
Khiry Chivers (KC): PVD Flowers raises capital through active community engagement, including fundraising events, merchandise sales, and collaborative support with like-minded organizations.
PVD Flowers is committed to fostering an authentic, community-centered environment that promotes the principles of worker ownership and collective empowerment.
LB: Can you provide some background on aspects of Co-op Rhody such as:
WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING?
EK: Co-op Rhody has held 21 workshops since June 2024, including 8 open to the public. Topics have included cannabis branding, cannabis plant science, cooperative bookkeeping, how to exit a cooperative, meeting facilitation, the union cooperative model, and more. We’ve partnered with many organizations to lead these workshops and bring their unique expertise to the table, including the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the Roger Williams Law School Start-up Business Clinic, and Wholehearted Bookkeeping.
We’ve also provided 11 hours of cooperative peer advising and business plan coaching to each of our cooperative teams over spring 2025, and ran a 5-week Dispensary Finance 101 class series in partnership with Our Academy, who provides technical assistance to social equity cannabis entrepreneurs around the country.
Andre Dev (AD): Our cooperative has a lot of cannabis experience and retail experience, but that doesn’t always translate into an understanding of spreadsheets or financial modeling. Since the goal is to empower working people to be entrepreneurs, these workshops have been a great way to get that understanding distributed through the group. We want to do things transparently and I want the people reading this to imagine what their jobs would look like if every person working there was someone you could trust to look at the financials and really understand the business. How much better would you feel?
We’re also getting a lot of help on working together and agreeing on bylaws and it feels a little like an HR training that’s not a waste of time, if that makes sense.
EVENTS?
EK: Co-op Rhody held a community fundraiser, Co-ops and Cold Ones, in November 2024. We’re hosting another Fundraiser on July 17 in partnership with the RI Freedom Collective. Check it out here – PWYC tickets and sponsorships are available! givebutter.com/KYI1hZ
AD: It’s consistently amazing to see this community grow organically. I really believe that’s what will keep the industry healthy in the longterm.
RESOURCE SHARING?
EK: Co-op Rhody is building an inventory of template resources for cooperative entrepreneurs, including sample union cooperative bylaws, onboarding processes, and conflict resolution policies.
AD: It’s difficult to overstate how much this helps. Right now, worker ownership is a weird niche thing. Even though it just makes sense, it still feels like it’s not normal. Having these resources helps us feel like what we’re doing has a history and we’re not out here alone.
LB: What else would you like the readers of Motif to know about Co-op Rhody?
EK: Get involved! Co-op Rhody is a grassroots organization that relies heavily on volunteer organizers. In addition to recruiting cooperative founders, we’re also looking for advisors with cannabis and/or cooperative experience, folks with marketing and communications skills, and partners and sponsors for future events.